Vending Machine Rings
by mustmoveswiftly
Summary: 22 years is a long time to be famous. 22 years is a long time to mess up. 22 years is a long time to live. Sonic has always hated anything that lasted too long. If SEGA didn't feel like killing off their one-trick pony, well, he would have to take matters into his own hands. (Real-life AU, Sontails, Sonadow, Sonilver, dark humor, warnings inside).
1. INTRODUCTION

**This is **_**Vending Machine Rings, **_**a real-life Sonic AU fanfiction. Think Wreck-it-Ralph, but… gayer. **

**There will be multiple yaoi pairings in this fanfiction – if one of them is your NOTP, I'll be putting which couple is doing the do in that particular chapter. Right now I am thinking that the pairings will be Sontails, Sonadow, and Sonilver, but I am open to suggestions for any pairings (yes, het and yuri are good too). The aforementioned pairing ARE set in stone and will NOT change, but if enough people want another pairing, I am VERY open to suggestion. **

**Warnings for this chapter: mentions of suicide and language. **

2014

FOR THE GOOD OF THE COMPANY

August 12th

Everything was molasses.

Time oozed like molasses, the bed was sticky and uncomfortable like molasses – even the air was hot and thick and _slow_ like the accursed substance.

He hated molasses.

At first, Sonic was just going to use sleeping pills, but then his death would be just as slow and boring as molasses, and Sonic wanted to go out with a bang. Figuratively. A gun would work, but that meant hassle and gross shit for the cleanup crew, and Sonic didn't want to make anyone's lives any harder than they already were. He had already done that, and was doing that just by living, so death should at least be somewhat convenient, right?

On the latest trip back to Japan, Sonic had made sure to pack a Genesis controller, plus its cord. He thought it would be a nice, poignant touch. No need for a note if he used the controller.

Sonic found his hands were shaking as he tied the black cord into a hangman's knot – a strange occurrence. It wasn't as if he had never tried this before. Perhaps this time, it would work. Harder to save someone from the knot than the pills. Then Tails could take over. Or Shadow, maybe. Definitely Shadow.

Sonic finished the knot, placing the cord and controller on the desk and looking around for a chair of some sort. There was a rolling one by a desk, but that wouldn't work, because he'd probably fall off the fucking thing before he could attach the cord to the ceiling and break his legs or some shit. That'd be useless.

His phone buzzed.

Sonic cursed under his breath, checking his phone. Mario? What the hell did he want? The smug Italian shithead knew that Sonic hated him to his very soul. He wasn't sure why. Originally, it was some kind of glorious war, the 90's battle of the consoles. Now, it was just pure spite that kept the fire raging in his stomach every time he even caught a whiff of that stupid porn-star moustache.

The teenage boy slammed the phone against the desk with an unusual lack of heart. Now was no time to reminisce about the past.


	2. VICTORY

**Oh look. It's me again. Almost precisely one week later. Hm. (That's how often I will update, of course). **

**I think I forgot to mention that these are actually the humanized versions of Sonic characters. Oops, I suppose?**

**And no, not all chapters are this short. The next one is quite a doozy, to be completely honest. Very long. And has our first yaoi pairing. **

**For the delight of all, there are in fact footnotes! And the crowd goes wild…**

**CHAPTER WARNING: Drinking**

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1991

VICTORY

July 13th

Lights shone in Sonic's face as he pushed through the crowd, wincing as he almost slipped in the cheap sake covering the floor. He had to get to Naka (1), to thank him for everything.

The roar of the party seemed distant yet deafening. Sonic could see him now. In the corner. The ten-year-old boy squeezed his way through the edge and approached Naka. The older man seemed a bit surprised to see him, but patted Sonic's head nevertheless.

"Thanks, Naka-san…" Sonic mumbled, uncertain whether Naka could actually hear him. It didn't matter, as long as he got the point.

Naka crouched down, knees cracking as he got on the eye level of the young boy. "You're very welcome, Sonic. There's something I want to ask you about…" Naka trailed off, eyeing the crowd warily (2). "But not here. Later. For now, let us celebrate." Naka straightened up, clutching Sonic's arm and hoisting the boy onto his shoulders.

"Please, ladies and gentlemen, let us celebrate the new face of gaming – Sonic the Hedgehog!"

A screaming cheer rose up from the crowd, making Sonic blush, a huge smile spreading across his face. He felt it proper to make some sort of speech, about how he couldn't have done it without them, but all the words were piling up in his throat and making a big lump so he kept quiet in case something stupid spilled out.

_-_- ΐ -_-_

(1) Yuji Naka is the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog. He and fifteen other people were asked to create designs for characters to rival Mario himself, and Yuji Naka submitted "Mr. Needlemouse" – later to be re-named Sonic the Hedgehog.

(2) After _Sonic 1_ was released and pronounced a success, Yuji Naka grew dissatisfied with SEGA's company policies, and decided to move Sonic to America.


	3. LOVE

**No reviews? Really? You wound me. (****Pssst if I get more than 5 reviews on a single chapter I update early just saying.)**

**Like I said, this chapter is much longer. And we're finally getting to the good stuff! Unfortunately, this chapter also has a **_**lot**_** of footnotes. The next chapter won't be so note-heavy, thank goodness.**

**Also, it's worth noting that Tails is NOT a female in this story – Sonic simply thinks he is.**

**CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language, drinking.**

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1992

LOVE

March 2nd

Sonic hated the fighting.

Even though it made his brain hurt and his tongue feel swollen in his mouth, every night the boy would stay up, diligently studying his English textbooks. He hated how they fought, the Japanese and Americans. Maybe if they had a translator, they would stop fighting and squabbling and they would remember that they had eight months left. (1)

Not everything was bad, though.

This guy named Yasushi Yamaguchi (2) had told Sonic that he was going to have a new friend, that STI (3) had decided to make a sidekick, just for Sonic.

The boy stayed up all night, tossing and turning as though he was plagued by fever, wondering what they would be like. Would they have ears and a tail like him? Or would they be a normal human?

That morning, Yamaguchi took Sonic to the offices and told him that his new sidekick awaited in the next room.

She was sitting on a rolling chair, spinning around and around with her two tails fanning out behind her and her curly golden wheat hair bouncing with the momentum. Yamaguchi was saying something, but Sonic could barely hear him. His throat was dry and his eyes were wide as he watched his new best friend spin and spin and spin.

She noticed him staring and stopped, face turning beet red. Sonic realized with some concern that all the flirting tricks that the Americans had shared with him had flown out the window.

"I like your tails," he blurted out, regretting it in an instant.

Tears welled up in her eyes and she sniffled, burying her face in her hands. Yamaguchi let out a semi-exasperated sigh, walking over to her and patting the fox girl on the back.

"I-in a good way, I mean!" Sonic spluttered out, "I ain't making fun of you! They're really fluffy and cool. My tail is super lame compared to yours."

The girl parted her fingers, eyes still red from tears.

"And I like your hair, too. It's all curly and cool. I bet it bounces when you run! And your shoes are really nice, they're like mine, but, I dunno, different, and your shorts are really cool too, 'cause they have so many pockets! How much stuff can you keep in there? Probably a lot, huh? Do you keep candy in there? I would keep candy in my pockets if I had so many pockets."

It was obvious that Sonic was just babbling at this point as he stared right above the girls head, too nervous to meet her eyes.

"Tools."

"What?" Sonic asked, confused.

"I… I keep tools in my pockets."

"Oh." The young boy felt overwhelmingly stupid. Of course that's what she meant. Before he could respond more, she continued on.

"My… my name is… Miles. Prower. Miles Prower. But, um… you can call me… Tails." Yamaguchi looked strangely irritated but kept quiet (4). "I… I look forward to working with you… Mr. Sonic…" She trailed off again, looking as though she wanted to throw herself out a window.

"You too, Tails!" Sonic chirped, trying to cheer her up. Did she dislike him, or…?

Tails ducked behind Yamaguchi's leg, obviously done with talking. Sonic coughed awkwardly, stammering out something about needing to talk to Naka. His face had never felt so hot as he sprinted out of the office and back into his bedroom.

June 21st

It was their beautiful, inviolate paradise.

Tails was nervous at first hanging around in the abandoned Hidden Palace Zone (5), but after much assurance, Sonic managed to convince her that no one would mind if they found out – it was nearly completed anyways, so there wasn't much chance of falling through the floor or anything like that. Plus, the office was too boring and crowded for a bunch of rambunctious kids to be running around in, and if they messed around in the Zones under construction, they could seriously screw up the programmers and mess something up. They had almost destroyed Emerald Hill on accident, and Sonic lost his ice-cream privileges for an entire month.

Together, they lay on the crystalline floor, amethyst waterfalls cascading around them before pooling underneath the land itself. Tails kept murmuring things, sweet, soft things, under her breath, and Sonic wondered what would happen if he listened in.

They had grown closer over the months, Tails getting over her crippling shyness to join Sonic on his morning jogs before they started production. She could never keep up, but Sonic always stopped before she could get too far behind. It was hard to tell whether she was more grateful or embarrassed by this, but she never once complained and kept going.

"Hey," Sonic called. Tails stopped murmuring and turned to face him, eyes wide and questioning. Sonic's gaze was fixed on the ceiling, and he twiddled his thumbs, playing with the fabric of his gloves.

"Do… do you want to, uh, you know…" Sonic let out a shaky laugh. No one but Tails could make him this nervous. "Um… do you want to kiss?"

Tails' eyes widened a fraction of an inch, a blush spreading across her face – she didn't look surprised, though. More relieved. Leaning forward, she planted a kiss on Sonic's cheek.

"Ah, no, um, not like that…" He stuttered, before being cut off by Tails' finger.

"I know," she said, before scrambling on top of him. She grabbed his face and kissed him hard on the mouth, eyes squeezed closed like she was afraid he might bite.

It wasn't… entirely unpleasant. More weird than anything else. Sonic wrapped his arms tight as a corset around Tails' waist, like they did in the movies, and kissed her back. Her lips were soft and comforting, slightly wet from chapstick. She tasted like honey and coconut, an odd but incredible combination.

The kiss only lasted a second or two, but the warmth lingered on Sonic's lips as Tails pulled away. Sonic wanted to pull her back, but he restrained himself, figuring that Tails could only handle so much boy-kissing for one day.

"That was my first kiss," she spluttered, face heating up.

"M-mine too."

"Can we keep this a secret?"

Sonic cocked his head, confused. He sat up, looking Tails in the eye. "Why?"

"I don't think… I don't think our bosses would approve."

Sonic pouted, crossing his arms. "That's stupid, though! Mario has Princess Peach (6), and Link has Princess Zelda! Why can't I have a love interest too?"

Tails face turned hot. "We can't be love interests!"

"Why not?"

"We… we just can't." Tails finished lamely.

Sonic turned away, pushing Tails off his lap but taking care not to hurt her. He wasn't mad. Just… disappointed.

"We can still do this when we're alone, though. As long as you don't tell anyone, we should be okay. You promise?"

"Huh? Oh! Y-yeah, I promise." Sonic couldn't think of anything intelligent to say, so he just grabbed Tails' collar and kissed her again.

November 28th

This triumph seemed even sweeter than the last.

Cheap champagne had joined the sake on the floor, and the conversations were held in a strange mix of broken Japanese and heavily accented English, and the best part was that Sonic could understand it all. Turns out Tails was a great language tutor.

There were no whispered conversations of leaving, no asterisks on the celebration. It was pure joy and victory, made even better by the beautiful girl holding his hand.

"Tails," Sonic murmured, leaning down to whisper in the girl's ear, "I want to break my promise."

She whipped on him, eyes narrowed. "Sonic…!"

"Shh, shh, not like that." Sonic rummaged around in his pocket, making sure that no one was watching him. "It took forever to get the one I wanted, but… here you go."

He pulled out a bright red plastic egg, handing it to Tails and giving her an eager look. She took it, confused, cracking open the toy and peering inside.

It was a cheap metal ring with a blue "gemstone" glued to the metal. The ring had been painted to look like gold, and it shimmered under the fluorescent light of the office complex.

"See?" Sonic said, pulling another ring out of his pocket. It was identical to hers, but with a yellow rhinestone instead of blue. "I got one to match."

Tears welled up in Tails' eyes, and she clutched onto her present as though it were the cure to all the world's diseases. "Sonic… are you asking me to marry you?"

Sonic nodded, blushing heavily. "I figured that I should do it proper… I spent a lotta quarters tryin' to get the yellow and blue ones from the vending machine, but it was worth it."

"Well, I do," Tails said, kissing her best friend on the cheek. Sonic kissed her back before pulling away, expression deadly serious.

"The reason I asked you about the promise was 'cause I figured we need someone to marry us, right? We can't do it ourselves, that ain't proper. But I dunno who we would ask…" Sonic trailed off, looking concerned.

"We can ask M (7)." Tails thought aloud. Sonic made a face.

"Her? She's the one who made I didn't have a love interest in the first place (8). Why would she of all people help us?"

"She's kind of like your mom, right? M wants you to be happy – I think she thought you wouldn't be happy with that human girl. Or maybe she was just weirded out by that Japanese furry bullshit."

Sonic wasn't sure what "bullshit" meant, but he kept it to himself and agreed to try and talk to M. She had left the celebration early to get some extra work done for another one of STI's projects – she was one of the most determined Americans on the team, that was for sure.

Sonic felt nervous knocking on her office door, but he tried not to show it so Tails wouldn't have an anxiety attack. She did that a lot whenever Sonic showed any sign of panic or fear.

"What is it?" came the muffled voice of M from behind the office door. "I'm a bit busy, so if it's not important, please inform one of the slackers getting shitfaced on cheap champagne at the party and have them deal with it."

"I would like you to marry us," Tails said, rather matter-of-fact.

There was a long pause before the door swung open. M, standing in the doorway, looked rather disheveled and more than slightly confused. "Marry you? Why'dya want me to do it?"

"Because… I dunno, you just seem like a good person to do something like this." Sonic shrugged trying to seem as nonchalant as he could. His knees were shaking.

"Oh." M had a distant expression on her face. "Well, uh… I guess I could? I mean, if that'll make you guys happy. So… do you wanna do it in my office?"

"Wait!" Sonic yelped, "We're not ready yet! Tails, you wait here, I need to go get something!"

Tails looked mystified but complied nevertheless, giving M a confused glance before sitting on the floor.

Sonic sprinted off, dashing through the emptied offices and dodging the packages lying on the floor. He had prepared in extent for this moment – he wanted their wedding to be perfect. So he had sewed a beautiful wedding dress for his loved one. Well, technically he just cut off the bottom of a white pillowcase and stuck a few clothespins on the back, but it still counted.

The eager young boy burst into his room, almost ripping his king-sized mattress off its bedframe in an attempt to get to the dress itself. He had hidden it underneath his bed rather than putting it in the closet because he was scared that someone would see and ask him about it, and Tails wanted to keep this as secret as possible.

The dress was almost gray with dust when he found it, and Sonic made a displeased face, brow furrowing. This wasn't good at all. Who'd ever heard of a gray wedding dress? He smacked it hard against the bedframe, coughing as a cloud of dust particles squeezed their way past his lips and down his throat. Repeating the process until the dress was more or less its original color, Sonic tucked it under his arm and ran over to his drawer, riffling through the contents until he found what he was looking for. A handkerchief that one of the older and grumpier members of the Japanese developers had given him for his birthday, with the added comment "use it more often, boy, or you'll get snot all over the computers". Sonic, of course, had never once touched it, so it wouldn't be gross if Tails used it as her veil.

By the time Sonic got back to M's office, the employee in question had struck up a confusing-sounding conversation with Tails (something about computer programs?) that Sonic couldn't understand a word of. He shoved the fetched items into Tails' hands, wincing as a cloud of dust puffed into her face.

"You should put those on," he said, turning his back on Tails so she wouldn't get nervous about changing. Tails spluttered something unintelligible before quieting. The rustle of clothes could be heard as she changed, and Sonic had a sudden urge to turn around and watch. But he knew that would be rude, and the last thing he wanted to do was make Tails mad right before their wedding. So he clenched his knees together and shut his eyes, trying to push the mental image out of his mind.

"You can turn around now," Tails said, voice sounding strangled.

Sonic spun on his heels, eyes widening as he saw his bride for the first time. The pillowcase didn't fit right, and Tails had to hold it up so it wouldn't slide down. The handkerchief was perched awkwardly on her bouncy golden curls, and she refused to meet his eyes, blush covering most of her face.

"You look really, really pretty," Sonic said, amazement permeating his voice. He meant it.

M cleared her throat, startling the pair. "If you two want me to marry you, we should get on with it, right?"

"Right!" Sonic said, grabbing Tails' hands. She shrieked as the dress began to fall, grabbing it just before he could see her chest.

"Ah, sorry," he apologized, wiping his hands on his athletic shorts.

"'S fine," she mumbled.

Sonic glanced at M. Her arms were crossed, an amused smirk twitching at her lips.

"Um, right." Sonic liked his lips, taking a shaky breath and closing his eyes. "I, S-Sonic the Hedgehog, take you, Miles Prower, to be my… my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to… no, no, from, uh, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for… richer! And poorer. And in sickness, and in heath, 'till death do us part."

A heavy silence settled over the room as Sonic finished his vows. The young boy squirmed, cracking his eyes open.

Tails was holding a hand over her mouth, eyes watery with tears and shock. "Sonic," she laughed before choking slightly. "You can't even learn your times tables. How… how did you manage to memorize all of that?"

Sonic winked, giving his trademark cocky grin. "You're a good motivator, Tails."

Tails began to laugh as she launched herself into Sonic's arms, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I'm really sorry Sonic, but I didn't learn any vows. I wasn't expecting this, see."

Sonic returned the hug, burying his face in Tails' veil. "It's alright, Tails. I don't mind. We can just move on to the real part, yeah?" He peeked at M through the white cloth. She had a strange expression on her face, like she was resisting the urge to run over and squeeze both of their cheeks.

"Right, right," M said, waving her hand as though there was a bee buzzing around her face. Sonic pulled away from the hug, winking at Tails, who blushed in return.

"Do you, Sonic the Hedgehog, take Miles 'Tails' Prower to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"You betcha."

"And do you, Miles 'Tails' Prower, take Sonic the Hedgehog to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Tails hesitated, face scrunched. Her dress was falling again, but she didn't notice as it slid down her pale skin. "I… I do, of course."

M gestured to Tails, smirking at Sonic. "Well, then, you don't need me to tell you what to do next."

He didn't.

_-_- ΐ -_-_

**(1)**_** Sonic 2**_**, the sequel to the original game, was planned for release in June of 1992. The team that was working on the game had nine months to program and produce **_**Sonic 2, **_**a very limited timeframe.**

**(2) Yasushi Yamaguchi is widely credited as the creator of Sonic's companion, Tails the Fox.**

**(3) STI stands for SEGA Technical Institute, and is the company that programs and runs SEGA from America. STI was later renamed SEGA of America.**

**(4) Yamaguchi wanted to name his character Miles Prower – a pun on the phrase "miles per hour". However, the rest of the team decided that Tails the Fox would be a more suiting name for the character. Yamaguchi refused to accept this, however, and secretly put Miles Prower in the game description and other places, making his name canon. To this day, it is accepted that "Tails" is a nickname given to the fox by his friend, Sonic.**

**(5) There were many zones that were scrapped in the production of **_**Sonic 2**_** due to time constraints. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Hidden Palace Zone, due to it being near completion when it was scrapped for other zones in the game.**

**(6) Though known by the name "Princess Toadstool" for many years in America, Japan has always known her by her current name, Princess Peach. **

**(7) Madeline "M" Schroeder was an American programmer for STI. She is the self-proclaimed "mother" of Sonic the Hedgehog, as she made many design changes to the character.**

**(8) Originally, Sonic the Hedgehog was to have a human girlfriend named Madonna. Schroeder cut her out, saying that it was too mature a topic for a children's game.**


	4. PLEASURE

**Thank you for all the lovely reviews, guys. It really motivates me to finish chapters and the such, especially considering it's finals week. I honestly couldn't have picked a worse time to upload this. **

**(Friendly reminder that if I get more than 5 reviews on a single chapter I update early wink wink nudge nudge).**

**Just a note – please, please, **_**please **_**wait until the age of consent for your area before you have sex – ESPECIALLY if your partner(s) are significantly older than you. Even if you're fine with it at the time, there's a good chance that you will regret it later on. I have made some mistakes in the past, and I do not want anyone to feel that kind of guilt and regret. **

**CHAPTER WARNINGS: Pornographic video, swearing, mild homophobia, graphic sexual situations between two ****HIGHLY UNDERAGE**** characters (can be considered dub-con, due to the law of statutory rape). **

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1993

PLEASURE

January 3rd

At first, Sonic despised the new guy.

He was tall and scary-looking, with a mean face and hands that looked like they could pulverize bone in a matter of seconds. It didn't help that he had a short fuse and was also a bit of an idiot, getting riled up over trivial things and constantly barking at people. Sonic loved poking fun at the big guy and laughing when he exploded and started screaming at the young boy. Tails constantly reprimanded both of them, acting almost like the pair's mother when they fought.

Sonic asked Tails quite a few times why the new guy was so angry, and every time she just said that he was probably nervous to be working with new people. Sonic supposed she was probably right – Tails almost always was – but that didn't stop him from bugging the new guy every chance he got.

Today was no different. M wouldn't let Tails and Sonic play outside, so while Tails made some hot cocoa, Sonic ran off to see if the new guy wanted some.

"Hey, Knuckles," Sonic yelled, bursting into his room, "Tails is making hot chocolate, do ya-"

Knuckles let out an inhumanly high shriek, grabbing his TV remote and hurriedly trying to shut off the television.

"What are you watching?" Sonic asked, curiously eyeing the naked woman on the screen.

"Nothing! Now mind your own damn business." Knuckles snarled, finally managing to shut the screen off. Sonic whined in disappointment.

"C'mooon, show me!"

"No! You'll learn about this when you're older. Now go drink your fucking hot chocolate, okay?"

"I'm only five years younger than you!" Sonic jumped onto Knuckles' lap, causing the teenager to let out a manly scream and push Sonic off.

"Don't do that again! I swear to Chaos, if you don't get out of my room in the next fifteen seconds, I'll throw through the wall!"

Sonic winked at Knuckles. "Maybe you will, but then I'll tell Yuda (1) what you were watching~"

The teenager paled, eyes widening in horror at the thought. "So, Knuckles, what's it gonna be? You gonna show me the video, or am I gonna have to run my big fat mouth off?"

Knuckles gulped, glaring at Sonic before turning the video on again. The woman was frozen on the television, eyes squeezed shut like she was in pain.

"Don't tell _anyone, _okay? Not even your little boyfriend. Dunno why a queer like you wants to watch this, but here you fucking go."

Sonic wasn't entirely sure what Knuckles was talking about, but kept quiet and watched in wide-eyed rapture as the teenager pressed play. The woman on screen began to spew profanity as an off-screen hand rubbed at her breasts.

"What is she even doing?" Sonic asked, brow furrowed as the hand moved downwards.

"It's sex, stupid. Thought you would know by now, considering you have a 'wife' and all."

Sonic flushed. "Don't talk about Tails like that."

A knock sounded at the door, and Knuckles quickly shut the television off. "What do you want?"

"Sonic?" The muffled voice of Tails came from behind the wood. "Are you in there? I have your hot chocolate, if you want it… I brought you some too, Knuckles. May I come in?"

"Yeah," Knuckles said, glaring at Sonic and making a zipper motion across his lips.

The door pushed open, light spilling into the darkened room. Tails stood in the doorway, holding a silver tray with three steaming mugs perched on top.

"What are you two even doing in here?" She asked, walking over to the couch and placing the tray down on the coffee table.

"We were watching some quality entertainment," Sonic said, winking at Knuckles, who looked like he was about to throw himself out a window.

"Oh yeah? Why didn't you invite me?" Tails teased, handing Knuckles his mug. The unfortunate teenager stared at the brown liquid like it held the secrets of the universe inside its depths. Sonic quickly fetched his mug and took a deep gulp, wincing as the chocolate burnt his tongue.

"Apparently you'd be too young. Knuckles barely let _me_ watch it, and I had to blackmail him a little first. Isn't that right?"

Knuckles didn't respond, directing his gaze towards the ceiling instead.

"What were you watching?" Tails bit her lip, glancing at the blackened television. "Was it rated R? Yamaguchi lets me watch rated R stuff sometimes."

Sonic looked over Knuckles. "Well? Was it rated R?"

Once again, the redhead kept silent.

Tails cleared her throat awkwardly, grabbing her mug and sitting down beside Sonic, snuggling into the crook of his arm. The two sat there for some time, sipping their drinks and giving meaningful glances at Knuckles, who still hadn't looked down from the ceiling.

"Okay," he said suddenly, still not bothering to look down. "Both of you. Out."

"But Knuckleeees," Sonic whined, putting on his best pouty face. Tails sighed and stood up, obeying the teenager's wishes.

"No 'buts'. Out. Now."

Sonic stuck his tongue out but followed suit nevertheless, sighing as soon as the door was closed behind him.

"So… what _were_ you two watching?" Tails asked, heading over to her room. People bustled by, hurried babbling filling the hallways as they rushed to and fro from office to office, arms filled with important-looking paperwork.

"Knuckles made me promise not to tell."

Tails made a 'hmm' noise, stopping as the pair reached her room. Entering, she put her mug down on her nightstand and sat down on her bed, stretching her back before flopping back. Sonic quickly joined her on the bed, lifting his arm so she could snuggle into his side.

"Tails?" He asked, voice slightly strangled. Tails lifted her head slightly, eyes wide.

"Yeah?"

"What… what exactly _is_, uh… Snakes-Eat-Xylophones anyways?"

Tails stared at him. "Snakes-Eat-Xylophones? What are you going on about?"

Sonic flushed. "You know! Snakes-Eat-Xylophones… S-E-X.?"

"Are you seriously asking me what sex is?"

"Shh! Don't say that so loudly! It's a bad word!"

Tails shook her head in disbelief. "Jesus, has no one given you 'the talk' yet? You're older than I am." She sighed and sat up, and Sonic quickly followed suit.

"Well… when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"

"No, no, not like that! I know _that _part." Sonic interrupted, shaking his head. "I know all about how the mommy gets fat and makes a baby or something. But… like, how does one actually do Snakes-Eat-Xylophones?"

Tails looked massively uncomfortable. "Well, you… I mean… You shouldn't worry about this stuff right now. You're too young anyways."

Sonic pouted. "Am not! I'm married and everything."

Tails blanched, growing pale. "Are you saying that you want _us_ to have sex?"

The young boy shrugged. "Uh, I guess. That's what married people do, right? Make babies?"

Tails dropped her face into her hands, sighing heavily through her fingers. "Listen… like I said, don't worry about it, okay? Just… forget it. You'll know when you're ready, okay?"

"Okay," Sonic said, making a face and flopping back onto the bed. After a moment, Tails joined him, snuggling up to his side once more as their hot chocolate grew cold.

January 5th

Tails was mostly asleep when Sonic came bursting in the room.

"Wha-!" She yelped, shooting up and nearly slamming into Sonic, who had jumped on her bed in excitement.

"I'm ready, Tails!"

"Ready for _what,_ exactly?"

"I'm ready to do the S-E-X!"

Sonic, who had been bouncing excitedly on his heels, stopped suddenly and started to pull his nightgown over his head, grunting as the fabric caught on his long hair.

"Oh my god, Sonic, stop! What are you even doing?" Tails screeched, hysterically grabbing at his arms in an attempt to stop him. She was, unfortunately, too late, and the young boy's bright-blue nightgown went flying across the room, landing perfectly on Tails' still ceiling fan and spinning it around.

The young boy was left in nothing but his dinosaur patterned tighty-whities, which he began to squirm out of before being stopped by Tails.

"Sonic! I thought I told you that you had to wait to have sex! You're not ready yet, okay? Now will you please put your pajamas back on?"

Sonic shook his head. "But I _am_ ready! I learned how to do the S-E-X! I watched a video and everything!"

Tails stared at him. "You watched a video? Oh my god, Sonic, did someone show you porn?"

Sonic shrugged, not quite sure what "porn" was. "Maybe, I dunno. But I know what to do now, so I _am_ ready!"

He then proceeded to free himself of his underwear before folding his arms and gazing crossly at Tails, who stared at the young boy with jaw loose.

"You need to take off your clothes too, you know! It's not gonna work if you don't."

Tails shook her head in disbelief. "Why do you want to have sex so badly? Can't we just… cuddle? Or even French kiss?"

"We've already done both of those," Sonic said rather pointedly, tugging at Tails' nightgown impatiently. It was completely identical to Sonic's, save the color. Predictably, it was yellow instead of blue. "C'moooon… pleeeeeeaaaaaaaaseeeeeee? Why can't we? It'll be fuuuuunnnn… And I'm already naked!"

Tails let out an exasperated sigh and batted Sonic's hand away, hesistating slightly before beginning to pull her nightgown over her head.

Sonic let out an exited screech, bouncing around in a circle on Tails' bed and screaming "I knew it! I knew it!" over and over until Tails had to grab him by his ears and stuff her recently discarded nightgown into his mouth to shut him up.

"Quiet, will you? Are you trying to wake up the whole damn office complex?"

"The only ones who stay here overnight are us, Knuckles, and some of the Japanese guys when they get into one of their moods," Sonic pointed out, having removed the now-soggy garment from his mouth. Tails pushed it off the bed, wincing in disgust when it made a wet slap as it hit the ground.

"Fair enough, but still! If someone walks in on us…" She stopped, eyes widening as she gulped.

"I'll be quiet, I promise!" Sonic whispered, grabbing Tails' hand and rubbing it in comfort. "Please?"

"Okay! Okay, just… give me a second." Tails pulled her hand away, rubbing her leg to get the sweat off before shifting her weight and starting to pull her underwear off. Sonic looked away, embarrassed.

"If you can't look at me, we can't have sex. That just won't work." Tails warned, tapping Sonic's shoulder.

He turned, staring her straight in the face before taking a deep breath and allowing his eyes to wander.

"We – we don't have to do it if you don't want." Tails stammered, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Why wouldn't I want to do it?"

Tails let out a short, barking laugh. "I mean, you know now, right? It's pretty obvious…"

Sonic cocked his head, sitting back on his haunches. "Know what? That you're a boy? Yeah, I already knew, silly!"

Tails opened his eyes, surprised. "You did? Then – then why did you act like I was a girl?"

"I thought might make you feel a little less weird about… _us._ I dunno. If I acted like you were a girl, then people might think you were a girl, and then not make fun of you for being a girly boy or sommat."

Tails sat back, suddenly embarrassed by the skin exposure. "I… Jesus, Sonic, do you even know how to have sex with another boy? That video you saw… it was between a man and a woman, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Sonic gulped, flushing a dark crimson as he crawled over to his husband, grabbing his knees and slowly pushing them apart. "T-there's still stuff we can do, right?"

Tails blanched, trying to close his knees and failing. "O-oh my god… What the actual shit are you doing?"

Sonic ignored him, slowly bending down until he was inches away from Tails' belly button. The young boy let out a slow, shaky breath, letting his hands fall from the fox boy's knees and pin themselves to his hips.

"Is this okay?" he murmured, brushing his lips down Tails' navel, pausing to let his tongue dart out and lap at the smooth skin.

"S-shit… yeah, uh, fuck. Yeah. Just be careful, okay?"

Sonic nodded eagerly, sliding one of his hands down to gently rub at Tails' thigh, allowing himself to lap around the fox's belly button before sliding his tongue lower. His lover's breath hitched as he reached Tails' crotch, hesitating slightly before placing a soft kiss to his half-hard dick.

Tails let out a low groan as Sonic huffed gently against his dick, peppering kisses against the warm skin, letting his tongue slip out at run up and down the small member. Threading his fingers through Sonic's long blue hair, Tails whimpered "Yes – fuck Sonic, yes, please just-"

The fox let out a shrill screech as his best friend took his head into his mouth, pushing the poor boy down until he could feel Sonic's hot throat gagging around him. Tears sprang up in the hedgehog's eyes as he was pushed lower, but he continued moving his tongue to the best of his ability. He had no idea how that lady in the video did this so easily.

Sonic began to quickly bob his head, trying to match Tails' frantic thrusts into mouth. His vision was getting blurry from lack of air, but he ignored it and continued moving, faster and faster, the world was spinning now and Tails was screaming so loudly but he couldn't stop now-

Tails gave one last powerful thrust before twitching hysterically, gasping as he reached his orgasm. Sonic pulled away, lightheaded and more than slightly dizzy. "Where- where's the white stuff?"

Tails was panting heavily as he fell back onto the bed. "I… I think I'm… too young… to… produce… semen…"

"Oh." Sonic wiped his mouth, more than a bit grossed out by the lingering taste. "I need to brush my teeth again."

"You do that," Tails let out a colossal sigh, waving his hand at the hedgehog. "I… I'm gonna go back to bed. I'll… I'll do you next time. If you want."

Sonic nodded, grabbing his underwear off the floor and slipping them on. "Do you think I can make the cream?"

"Probably not… you haven't hit puberty yet either…"

"What about Knuckles?"

Tails grunted a "yes", rolling over on the sweaty sheets and squeezing his eyes shut. He obviously was done with their conversation.

Sonic climbed in with him, not bothering to fetch his nightgown from the ceiling. He could deal with that later – for now, he wanted to stay with this newfound side of his husband.

March 23rd

Sonic hated flying almost as much as swimming.

The key word, of course, was "almost", and it applied less to the kind of flying he did with Tails and more to the kind of flying that involved barf-bags and ten hours of sitting perfectly still while your irritable adopted father yelled at you every time you so much as nudged him.

Whether this trip was actually worth it had yet to be determined. Sonic certainly didn't think so, as barfing on your future love interest wasn't a great indicator of good things to come.

Oshima (2) had laughed his head off, though, so it wasn't completely terrible.

The poor young lady (Rose?), however, was less than pleased when her "brand new skirt goddammit" was covered in half-digested airline pasta. Sonic had tried to laugh it off and promptly gotten smacked, so he supposed this was probably a lost cause, a fact that Tails seemed relieved about.

After Oshima introduced the lady as Amy, not Rose, (Amy Rose?) and purchased a new skirt at an airport vendor, he forced the four kids (Knuckles had come along for some reason) into a tiny Japanese car and drove for at least two hours along the streets of Tokyo until the unfortunates reached SEGA's main HQ, where Oshima had spent yet another 2 hours rambling about the new project. Sonic had barely listened to a word of it, too busy worming his fingers over Tails' thighs and suppressing giggles when he was rewarded by a smack to the hand and a hot blush.

After the meeting, Sonic was FINALLY given some food to munch on, considering he had effectively projectile-vomited his lunch on poor Amy's skirt. The simple rice and pickled radish tasted plain after a solid year of hearty American burgers and chili dogs. The chopsticks, too, felt awkward and stiff in his hands, and he twirled them around his fingers as he sighed and looked out the window.

"I'm sorry for getting so mad at you earlier."

Sonic glanced around, smiling sheepishly when he saw it was Amy.

"I know you didn't mean to, you just felt sick, but… next time, aim _away_ from the skirt, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sonic laughed, returning to twirling the chopstick. Amy watched for a second before pulling a chair up and sitting next to him.

"Hey," Sonic said, pausing in his twirls and tapping a bulging pocket in Amy's skirt. "What d'ya got in there?"

Amy blushed, scooting away. "It's none of your beeswax," she began to say, but it was too late. Sonic had already picked her pocket, and was examining the contents on the table.

"Tarot (3), huh? You a psychic or sommat?"

Amy grabbed the cards back, positively livid. "I _said_ it's none of your beeswax, dummy. And no, it's just a hobby of mine, okay?"

Sonic grinned widely. "You should make a thing out of it, you know? Like, a _thing. _'Amy the Card Reader,' or something along those lines. Makes you more mysterious and desirable, see?"

Amy flushed. "But being desirable kinda contradicts my character (4), doesn't it?"

Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe. I still think it's a cool idea. You should go talk to Oshima about it, yeah?"

Amy nodded, smiling a bit as she imagined it. "Thanks Sonic. I'll, uh, see you at shooting time." She stood up, walking away with a small spring in her step. On her way out, she passed Tails, who looked less than pleased.

"You know, you don't have to pretend you love her," he snapped irritably, sitting in Amy's recently vacated seat. "In fact, you probably shouldn't. Kinda the whole point, isn't it?"

Sonic glared at his lover. "I was pretending anything. I was just trying to be nice to the new girl, yeah?"

"You weren't nice to Knuckles!"

"That's because he's kind of a jerk. I was nice to you too."

Tails sighed heavily, resting his head in the crook of Sonic's neck. "I know. That's what I'm worried about.

"Oh, sweetie," Sonic laughed. "I wouldn't leave you for someone I barely know! Besides," he murmured, bringing his voice down. "I bet her blowjobs aren't half as good as yours."

Tails let out an inhumanly high shriek, slapping Sonic full on the face as he proceeded to laugh his head off before leaning in and silencing the rant that was bubbling out of Tails' lips.

_-_- ΐ -_-_

**(1) Takashi Thomas Yuda is the real-world creator of Knuckles the Echidna. **

**(2) Naoto Oshima was part of the original **_**Sonic the Hedgehog **_**team**_**,**_** who stayed behind in Japan rather than moving to America like Naka and Yasuhara. He was assigned director of the new **_**Sonic CD,**_** which would use the full capabilities of the new Mega CD add-on for the Genesis/Mega Drive. **

**(3) As part of the plot to **_**Sonic CD, **_**the character of Amy Rose used Tarot cards to divine that she was destined to meet up with Sonic, her idol and crush.**

**(4) Oshima wanted Amy to be a sort of anti-Princess character – seeing that Nintendo had produced so many games with love interests, Oshima wanted Amy's love of Sonic to be completely unrequited. The only reason Sonic rescues Amy in **_**Sonic CD**_** is out of the goodness of his heart, not because he is romantically interested in her.**


	5. ROLES

**Have we hit our first filler chapter? I do believe so!**

**Why the sudden shift from SEGA's attitude being "Sonic and Amy should not be together" to just the opposite (in this AU at least)? Well, physically, Sonic is around 12 or 13 at this point, and SEGA wants to keep him happy and satisfied. How does one do that? Booze and women of course! Well, not so much the booze. And, uh, one woman. Alright, I'll shut up.**

**Sassy Tails is sassy.**

**CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language, nudity, forced kiss (Do I need a warning for this? Best to play it safe), puns.**

**Yes, puns.**

**I am so sorry. **

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1994

ROLES

February 13th

"This is absolute bullshit," Sonic snarled, feet pounding against the floor as he paced the room. "They can't do this to me! They can't just control my whole fucking life!"

"Technically, they can," Tails said quietly, rubbing his hands over his bare legs. "They own you, Sonic. They own all of us. We have to do whatever they say."

The hedgehog huffed angrily, biting his lip. "I don't care. It's still complete bullshit. I don't mind acting, but they can't just demand that I love her for real."

A knock sounded at the door, and Sonic swore under his breath. "One second!" He called, glancing over at Tails. His boyfriend was already scrambling for his discarded clothes, shoving them under the bed sheets before diving under the covers after them. Sonic quickly slipped on his underwear and a t-shirt before opening the door.

Amy Rose stood in the doorway, her hands wringing her orange skirt (1) nervously.

"Hi, Sonic… Did you hear the news?"

Sonic forced a smile, his lips pressed together in a hard line. "Yeah. I did."

Amy peered over the young man's shoulder into the messy room. "May I come in?"

Sonic stepped aside, allowing Amy access. She tiptoed around the junk cluttering the floor, sitting on the bed and flattening her skirt with the palms of her hands. Sonic's eyes widened as he saw his boyfriend shift uncomfortably under the covers. If Amy turned around now, she would be able to clearly see the shape of someone curled up under the sheets…

The hedgehog quickly crossed the room, sitting next to Amy and grabbing her hands. She started, blush spreading across her cheeks like wildfire.

"Amy, I wish it didn't have to be this way," Sonic said coolly. His heart was racing, but he covered up with his practiced American smile. "A nice, pretty girl like you deserves so much better than me…"

"I- I-"

Sonic sighed through his nose. It was worth a shot. "Amy… if you don't want to start dating for real, that's okay! We can pretend in front of the CEOs, yeah? I mean, we're both so young…" Tails snorted softly, and Sonic kneed the lump in the covers before continuing. "It just doesn't feel right to try to love someone at this age. Maybe when we grow up a little, we can really express our feelings, yeah?"

Sonic was 90% sure that time wouldn't make him like Amy any more than he did, but he kept that part to himself.

"Oh, Sonic, you're so smart~" Amy cooed, lifting her hand up and putting it against his face. "We can pretend, but don't you think we should… _practice_ a little?"

Before Sonic could respond, Amy had leaned forward and pressed her lips against his.

Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, putting his hands awkwardly on her shoulders. He wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, but it felt like an eternity before Amy pulled away. She was blushing, a sweet smile on her face.

"That was my first kiss," she murmured, wonder filling her voice.

Sonic felt a sudden pain in his chest as he thought of Tails, curled up under the blankets and listening to his boyfriend of just under two years kiss another.

"M-mine too," he forced out, causing Amy to giggle.

"We should go get ice cream and practice some more!" She yelped delightedly, bouncing up and down. Sonic shook his head.

"Sorry Amy, I have to help polish up some of _Sonic 3_'s levels. We've had a long time to do this one, and I wanna make sure it turns out good, you know?"

Amy sighed, pouting softly. "Are you sure you can't just leave it to, I dunno, Tails?"

"I would if I could," Sonic reassured her, placing a hand on her arm. "We can get ice cream later, alright? But we have to eat it inside, 'cause it's way too cold out to, well, not."

"Sounds like a date," Amy giggled, planting a kiss on Sonic's cheek and bounding out of the room. Sonic quickly closed the door behind her, leaning against the polished wood and sighing.

"Good going, fucknuts," Tails sneered, clawing his way out of the covers to glare at Sonic. "You've managed to make her fall even _more_ in love with you."

"It's not my fault I'm a handsome charming devil," Sonic chuckled, returning to the bed and wrapping his arms around his still-naked boyfriend. "Ah, that poor girl. Should we just tell her? Amy's not a bad person, she's just… delusional."

Tails shook his head. "As far as I'm concerned, the only people who need to know are us. I mean, M and Knuckles know, but they're pretty good at keeping their mouths shut. And M doesn't have anyone to tell now…"

Sonic swallowed thickly. "Why'd she resign anyways?"

"I don't know... New life, I guess. A different path."

Sonic suddenly started laughing. "She could always call up _Nintendo Power (2) _and give 'em a hot story. Oh, I can see the headline now – 'The REAL Reason Sonic HATES Amy'!"

"Oh god, I'd hope she'd have more class than that. But yeah, the headline would be pretty amazing. '_Sonic 3 _Isn't the Only Thing Coming Out!'."

"Caught Shopping at the Homo Depot!"

"Sonic and Tails: In Narnia No More."

"'He Has Two _What?'"_

At this, Tails burst into a shrieking laugh, rolling over onto his side and clutching at his stomach. Sonic giggled appreciatively.

"It wasn't _that_ funny."

"Are you kidding? That was great." The fox's laughter died down a bit, and he sat up, looking Sonic in the eye.

"As funny as this is, we really shouldn't let anyone know." He said quietly. "The Genesis sales could plummet… We're practically neck-to-neck with Nintendo as it is. Don't want to do anything to help them out, yeah?"

"Yeah." Sonic sighed. "So is this it? Are we gonna be in the closet forever?"

Tails shrugged. "I guess so. At least until we break up. Or stop making games. Whichever comes first, I suppose."

Sonic eyed him nervously. "You make it sound like those things are inevitable. You're… not planning on breaking up with me, are you?"

"What? No, no! Of course not. It's just statistically likely that we will break up, considering we entered the relationship when we were 10 and 8, respectively."

Sonic stared at him, giving an uncertain smile when Tails patted his shoulder.

"Seriously Sonic, don't worry yourself over it. I don't think we'll leave each other for a very long time."

_-_- ΐ -_-_

**(1) Although her modern design consists of a red dress and boots, Amy originally wore a green blouse and a ruffled orange skirt.**

**(2) **_**Nintendo Power **_**was a very famous video game magazine, consisting of reviews and sneak peeks at games for Nintendo-made consoles. However, in this AU, **_**Nintendo Power**_**, as well as many other gaming magazines, are actually celebrity gossip magazines dedicated solely to the gaming characters themselves.**


	6. SHELL SHOCK

**This one's a day late, sorry. I'll post chapter 6 on Saturday to compensate…**

**You may notice I skipped 1995. There are some unimportant years in Sonic's history, and that happens to be one of them.**

**Also, I think this is the longest chapter yet. Yay…?**

**CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language, crying, violence, racial slurs, non-con kissing, slight Knuxonic (sorry), implied child abuse, underage makeup sex, seme!Tails and uke!Sonic**

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1996

SHELL SHOCK

December 1st

_Happy Holidays, Motherfucker._

The conference room had been empty for a good ten minutes now.

Sonic _knew_ that he should get up and tell Tails how it went, he knew he should run over and tell him what needed to be done, what changes would take root and poison the business like an inevitable cancer. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he was glued to his seat like a dumbass, staring at the folder on the table, rude message scribbled in red sharpie.

It wasn't like he hadn't been yelled at before by his superiors. Hell, even Naka snapped sometimes and decided to release a shitstorm on the unfortunate 13-year-old, allowing Sonic to practice his ashamed nodding. It was probably the crying that got to him. No one had ever cried before.

Actually, Sonic was pretty sure that the crying wasn't really a direct result of the meeting itself. The guy was just having a bad day. All the yelling must've just set it off. The straw that broke the camel's back.

Apparently it also broke SEGA.

Sonic realized dimly that he too was crying now. The ugly red sharpie swam in his eyes, and he sniffled, trying to wipe away the tears. "Keep comin' back," he mumbled, furiously rubbing his face, "just keep comin' back, comin' back,"

The conference room door creaked open. Suddenly glad that his back was to the entrance, Sonic ducked his head, holding his breath as he struggled to keep the sobs down.

"Excuse me, young sir," a stiff voice called. Hotel staff. "This is not a playground. If you could return to your room or the lobby, it would be much appreciated.

Sonic didn't respond, grabbing the folder and clutching it tightly to his chest. If the old man saw the curse word he would probably grow furious.

A hand landed on Sonic's shoulder, making the boy jump.

"Did you hear me? Please go to your room or the lobby, or I will have to forcefully eject you. There is a meeting here in thirty minutes!"

Sonic let out a strangled hiccup, nodding and burying his face in his chest. The hand on his shoulder tightened, and before Sonic knew what was happening, he had been yanked out of the chair. The folder flew open, documents scattering like dead butterflies, and Sonic stumbled to his knees, hands shaking as he tried to stuff them back into the folder. The old man inhaled sharply, and Sonic supposed he was finally recognized as he clambered back to his feet. Sonic hoped to god that there were numbers on the papers, because if there weren't, it'd be hell to re-organize everything.

"Sir, I'm very sorry-"

Sonic ignored him, sprinting out the door, eyes still blurred. When he reached the elevator, he slammed the "up" button, praying that no one was inside.

He was in luck. The empty elevator came quickly, and Sonic stumbled in, weakly pushing his floor number. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Sonic dashed into the corner and sank to his knees, resting his forehead against the cheap faux wood décor. The tears had escaped his eyes now and were running freely down his cheeks. It was so stupid, really, how much he was upset by this. He shouldn't be crying over some meeting. He just needed to pull his act together. That's all. Really. Wasn't a big deal. Wasn't a huge fucking deal. No. Not at all. Nope.

The elevator dinged open, and Sonic turned his head cautiously. It was his stop. A miracle, really, that no one tried to board along the way. The young boy quickly got up, head ducked as he briskly walked to his room. A few moments of fumbling with his keycard, and Sonic was inside.

"How'd it go?" Tails called. The TV was humming gently in the background, and Sonic could pick up snippets of conversation. Meaningless words strung together in a jamboree of sound and emotion. Sonic opened the bathroom door and hurried inside, quickly locking it behind him. Crunching noises could be heard as well. Knuckles must be snacking.

"Sonic?" Tails was knocking now, knocking as Sonic stared bleakly at himself in the mirror. His eyes were red and puffy, as was per protocol for crying your eyes out in public places. God. He just hoped the paparazzi didn't find out about this. Mario would think it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard.

"Leave 'im alone, Tails, he's just going to the bathroom."

There was a pause before Tails shuffled away from the door. Sonic could hear the springs creak as the fox collapsed onto one of the two beds. Sonic supposed this probably meant he would be the one sleeping on the floor. Again.

The rudely emblazoned folder was lying on the counter. Sonic quickly shredded it, flushing the paper down the toilet. No need for Tails to see that particularly ugly tidbit. The remaining documents were gathered and shuffled together to make a clean rectangle, which Sonic tucked under his arm. The redness of his eyes had mostly disappeared by now, and Sonic liked to think it was from hearing Tails' voice. Or being in his room. Either way, Sonic supposed it didn't really matter as he pushed the faucet to turn the tap water on. After a few seconds, he turned it off again and exited the bathroom, turning the corner to finally see Tails and Knuckles.

They were sitting on the same bed, a bowl filled with Doritos sitting in front of them. Sonic's stomach growled loudly in protest – there had been no refreshments at the meeting, and it had lasted almost two hours. Almost.

"Come over here, Sonic! You never answered my question, you know."

The young boy in question scrambled onto the bed, cuddling up to Tails and inducing a soft snort from Knuckles. Sonic elbowed him in the side before planting a kiss on the young fox's head. The stack of papers under his arm was placed on the nightstand, and Sonic made sure that they faced downward. They could look at those later.

"It went fine. There's gonna be a couple of changes and all, but nothing too major, I think."

"It's about time they whipped you into shape," Knuckles grunted. "I went to go to one of the vending machines and heard screaming coming from your meeting room. Were ya doing something stupid like falling asleep? You ungrateful brat."

"They were yelling at you?" Tails sat up, gazing meaningfully at Sonic. The young boy shrugged.

"I guess. They weren't yelling at me, per se. Just kinda… yelling." Lies. Lying, lying, lying.

"I thought you said the meeting went well!"

"It did! There was just a little bit of yelling. Really, Tails. Some asshole got too worked up. That's all." More lies.

The young fox clicked his tongue, turning back to the TV. Some kind of crime drama, Sonic gathered. He reached for the bowl of Doritos, sighing out of his nose.

"Sonic, that's BS and we all know it," Knuckles growled, swatting the hedgehog's hand away from the bowl. Sonic glared, snatching the Doritos and placing them on his lap.

"Stop it, you two! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing's wrong with _me," _Sonic growled, glaring at his friend. "It's this asshole who can't keep his damn nose out of other people's business because he's so insecure that he has to put other people down to feel good about himself!"

Knuckles bristled. "What did you just say to me, punk?"

"You heard what I said, you son of a whore."

Sonic knew it was coming, but it still hurt when his head slammed against the hard floor, ears ringing as his face was slapped and punched mercilessly. He could vaguely hear Tails screaming in the background as he clawed at his assailants' face, grunting in satisfaction when Knuckles jerked back when Sonic hit his eye. Using the situation to his advantage, Sonic yanked at Knuckles' shirt, pushing him down and clambering on top of him, continuing to claw and slap at his face.

Unfortunately for Sonic, Knuckles was still incredibly stronger, and Sonic was pushed off almost immediately. A fist slammed down on his gut, and Sonic gasped for breath, tears once more springing to his eyes. Vision blurred, all he could see was the massive looming shape, coming back to deal out more. Shivering, Sonic tried to pull away, curling up into a fetal position, but he was yanked back. He could barely make out Knuckles' furious face, shoved ungracefully into his.

"You're gonna get what's comin' to ya," he hissed. Sonic could feel spittle splattering across his face. "Do ya understand me, you cracker ass bit-"

December 2nd

Sonic still wasn't sure why he did it.

The motel bed was incredibly uncomfortable, and Sonic found himself wondering whether the hotel room floor would've been more or less painful to sleep on. Either way, Sonic awoke with a stinging face, an aching torso, and a neck so sore that he was concerned that if he tried to pop it his head would come clean off.

To be fair though, he really, really deserved this one. Riling up his friend for no good reason other than to pick a fight and get all of his anger out. He should've beat up a pillow, or hell, even a wall would've been better than SEGA's prizefighter.

His phone began to buzz, and Sonic groaned, rolling over and wincing as his aching body shivered in protest. Picking up his Nokia, Sonic pressed the call button and held the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" He mumbled sleepily.

"Hey Sonic. It's Tails."

Sonic sat up quickly, ignoring the jab of pain it brought him. "Tails? Listen, I'm really, really-"

"Save your apologies for later. Naka is furious. I… I told him what you did. You need to get back to the hotel, pronto. We're driving to the airport in thirty minutes."

"Can't I just meet you there?"

"No. Naka wants to chew you out first. Everyone, actually, wants to chew you out first."

"Tails…" Sonic stammered. "Did – did you tell him, about… about, uh…"

"The kiss? No. I didn't. I'm not that stupid."

Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, I guess I'll see you-"

The line went dead.

Sonic slowly shut his eyes, placing the phone down on his lap. Christ. He knew Tails would be mad, but… he didn't know he'd be _this_ angry.

He really wasn't sure what came over him in that moment. He obviously hadn't been thinking when he had pulled on Knuckles' dreads to messily slam his lips against his. Everything had gone strangely quiet and still, all three of them too shocked to do anything but sit there. His lips had been larger and pillowier than Tails', but they were also rougher, chapped lips that hadn't seen moisture in a very long time. Sonic could hear his heart beating in his ears when Knuckles pulled away, dark eyes wide with surprise.

It felt like forever until Sonic had found his voice. "Knuckles, I-"

"Out."

The two fighters looked at Tails. He was sitting on the bed, head ducked, cheeks and eyes burning. "Out, Sonic. Just… just leave."

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but closed it wisely after a moment. Standing up, he grabbed the papers off the nightstand and left the room, dropping his keycard in the bathroom.

Sonic blinked, returning to the present moment. He sighed, getting dressed and rinsing his mouth with the dirty tap water before grabbing his papers once more and leaving the motel room. After dropping off the battered keys at the front desk, he began to jog back to the hotel. Running was faster than anything else anyhow. His stomach felt like it was trying to ingest itself – he hadn't eaten since the handful of Doritos yesterday. He figured he probably wouldn't ask anyone for food, though, since everyone at this point was pretty mad at him. He'd be lucky if he could make it through the day without being smacked around a little. Knuckles would probably greet him with a nice punch to the face. Tails probably wanted to kick him in the nuts. And Naka… well, he'd never been smacked by his pseudo-dad before, but now would be a great time for a first. Hell, probably everyone on Sonic Team would love to shove him around at this point.

When he reached the hotel, a small crowd was huddled outside in the cold. Everyone was wearing jackets except for him, and none of them looked terribly happy to see him. Sonic shivered, finally realizing exactly how cold it was.

"Sonic!" screamed a voice from the back of the crowd. Businessmen grumbled as they were pushed to the side, and Sonic's eyes widened. Oh yeah. He had forgotten Amy was on this trip too.

Amy burst through the crowd, gasping when she saw Sonic's battered face and running over. "Oh god Sonic, what happened to you? Are you feeling okay? Do you need painkillers?"

"I'm fine, Amy, really. Just… keep it down. Got a feeling that most everyone here isn't as glad to see me as you are."

"Sonic, can I have a word with you?" It was Naka. The young boy nodded, and was immediately grabbed by the ear and yanked away from the crowd. Sonic winced every step of the way.

"Is this what being mature means to you?" Naka hissed when they were out of earshot. "We have an entire goddamn meeting about how you need to pull your act together to make better quality games, and this is the first thing you do? Aggravate your coworkers to the point of them fighting you? I'm incredibly disappointed in you Sonic. We all are incredibly disappointed. We thought you were better than this."

Sonic didn't respond, nodding and shifting his gaze to the ground. He wanted to yell that it wasn't completely his fault, the programmers and the marketers were also to blame, but he didn't want to add another bruise to his already battered face.

December 4th

"Hey."

Tails was leaning against the doorframe, eyes half-squinting at his boyfriend. At least, Sonic still hoped that he was Tails' boyfriend. They hadn't spoken since Tails kicked the young boy out of the hotel room. Sonic had figured that the fox had needed a little space. Understandably.

"Hey yourself," Tails yawned, scratching at his legs. "Wow. Your bruises look worse than ever."

It was true. Sonic's face had been reduced to purple-blue marks splattered across pale skin, broken only by the occasional bright red line of a deep cut. His left eye was almost completely swollen shut.

"Yeah." Sonic coughed, shifting his weight. "Can I, uh, come in?"

Tails nodded, standing aside and allowing entrance. Carefully stepping over the doorframe, Sonic crossed the room and sat down on the bed. Tails closed the door behind him before joining Sonic.

"I'm really sorry," Sonic started, but was cut off by Tails waving his hand.

"I figured as much. I would give you a slap for myself, but I'm afraid that I might break your nose if I do."

"So… we're still dating?"

Tails smiled weakly. "Until I can find another handsome hedgehog-boy that can run faster than sound."

Sonic let out a nervous laugh that had been bubbling in his throat, and wrapped his arms around the fox. After a moment, Tails returned the gesture.

Pulling away, Sonic grasped at Tails' shoulders. "Listen, I want to make this up to you, okay?"

"Must be some pretty small flowers you got in your pocket there," Tails chuckled. Sonic didn't laugh.

"I'm serious, alright? I want to do something really special. I mean, not special. Like… decent. You know?"

Tails squinted at him. "You wanna donate to charity or something?"

"No, not like that." Sonic huffed. "I want to let you top."

"… Wow." Tails coughed. "That's uh… unexpected. You want me to top you? In this condition?"

"See? The very fact that you're surprised means I've been doing a bad job! I've been reading about this-"

"It's a miracle you even can," Tails mumbled. Sonic continued on dauntlessly.

"-and I really don't think I appreciate you enough. It's all give and take, you know? I've just been taking and taking, and haven't been doing any giving, and I think it's really hurting us."

Tails suddenly laughed. "You just wanna try anal, huh? You wanna see how it feels. Wanna see if it feels as good as everyone makes it out to be."

Sonic flushed. "That's not-"

Tails silenced him with a kiss, roughly pressing on one of his bruises and making the boy gasp in pain. Taking the opportunity to slide his tongue in, Tails groaned into Sonic's hot mouth. Sonic let out a needy whine, sucking on Tail's lips, moaning desperately. His mouth was so soft and warm and wet and compliant, and before Sonic realized what he was doing, he grabbed Tails' hair and pushed him on the bed, lying on their sides, Tails pressed as hard as he could against his boyfriend's body, moaning into the kiss, wiggling against Sonic's hard-on.

"S-sorry," the young boy panted, breaking the kiss. "I was supposed to let ya dominate,"

"There's still plenty of time for that," Tails growled, scrabbling at Sonic's shirt and yanking it over his head. The place where Knuckles had punched was a deep violet, and Tails prodded gently at the wound, producing a pained whine from Sonic.

"Sorry, sorry," Tails mumbled, a grin spreading across his face as a nasty idea popped into his head.

"This is gonna hurt like a bitch, but bear with me, okay?" Tails chuckled, dipping his head and pressing gentle kisses against the bruise while rubbing Sonic through his pants. Groaning at the two feelings, Sonic confusedly bucked his hips up, gasps and pants escaping his lips.

"Sorry," Tails mumbled once more before biting the bruise hard. Sonic screamed, jerking up and nearly pushing Tails off the bed.

"Wha- what the fuck?" He yelped, tears streaming down his battered face. Tails kissed the trails of water apologetically, continuing his movements down under. He had definitely lost some arousal for that.

"I was claiming you back," He murmured, "Don't worry, I won't do it again,"

Sonic whined again, weakly bucking his hips. Tails pushed him down once more against the bed, continuing to kiss his face before moving down to his neck, his collarbone, his chest.

He reached a hand down his boyfriend's pants as he sucked on his chest — _no underwear, Christ, Sonic _— and gave his half-hard cock a squeeze. Sonic let out a full-blown moan and Tails had to stop licking his chest to catch his breath.

Tails started stroking his boyfriend, and when Sonic moaned desperately and his back actually _arched, _Tails could feel his cock throb in his pants.

"Fuck, Sonic…" he mumbled, brushing a hand over his boyfriend's battered face as he stroked him to full hardness. "Knew you'd like this, gonna make you feel so good, sweetheart. God, look at you, you're so fucking sensitive… "

"Tails," Sonic gasped, squeezing his right eye shut. "Fuck, please Tails, hurry up, I can't do this for much longer…"

Tails pulled his hand away from Sonic's cock and let it fall, thick and hard, against his stomach. Sonic's breath was short and his heart was battering against his chest, like it was trying to escape. Tails bit his tongue and worked Sonic's pants off, grinning when Sonic bucked again, whimpering and screaming. "You need this bad, don't you?" He chuckled, slowly starting to stroke Sonic once more.

Yanking off his own pants, Tails crawled on top of his boyfriend and pressed their bodies together and kissed him, long and deep, moaning as he bucked his body forward against Sonic's. He shuddered and held Sonic's shoulders hard, rocking against him and shoving his tongue once more past Sonic's lips.

When Tails finally pulled away, Sonic was shivering and panting in his arms, continuing to buck wildly against his lover. "You wanna try it now?" Tails mumbled. Confusion furrowed Sonic's brow, but he nodded once he understood.

Tails leaned over to the nightstand, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a bottle of lube that they always kept handy. Coating his fingers, Tails pushed Sonic's legs open, grinning when he saw that Sonic had shaved "down there".

"You prepare yourself for me, huh? You must be pretty sorry to go this far." Tails chuckled, running a lubed finger slowly up and down Sonic's hold. The boy in question practically sobbed as he tried to push down on the digit, tried to let it just enter him already. Tails clicked his tongue.

"Impatient, are we? That's nothing new. Lemme hear you beg for it."

"God, fuck, Tails, just – hahh, just put it in me already, I don't care."

Tails grinned, pushing one finger in gently. Sonic clenched his teeth and let out an anxious groan. The fox froze, afraid that he had hurt his boyfriend, but his fears were quickly assuaged when Sonic ground down onto the digit, panting and begging.

Tails grinned. "You like that, huh?" He slid the finger in and out, trying to match Sonic's wild bucks, and soon the hedgehog was practically screaming.

Tails pulled his finger out, much to Sonic's chagrin, but quickly pushed it back in, along with a second digit. This, too, sank in with relative ease, and Sonic tossed his head and let out another moan as they slid in up to the knuckle. Tail's cock throbbed and he ran a hand down his body to stroke it. "How's it feel, Sonic? You like it when I finger fuck you?"

"Yes, yeah, fuck, just, ugh, just shove it in already, fuck, Tails, I can't wait-"

"Yes you can," Tails chided. "One more finger. I promise."

He pumped the two fingers in and out for a while, making Sonic cry like a professional whore before pulling them out and pushing in three. That felt distinctly tighter, and Sonic let out a whine as they entered him. Tails panted as he watched his fingers disappear into Sonic's body, still lazily stroking his own cock.

Sonic was a hot mess, gasping and panting and clutching at the sheets, helpless as Tails slid his fingers in and out. Tails was having a hard time holding it together himself, watching his boyfriend and best bud squirm with three fingers shoved up his ass. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and pulled his fingers out slowly, straightening and once more reaching for the bottle of lube. Sonic's eyes were wide with anticipation as Tails rubbed the lube up and down his dick.

Tails grabbed Sonic's ass in both hands, spreading it. He groaned when his cock slipped between those cheeks and fell neatly against Sonic's tight, virgin hole.

Sonic was breathing fast, shaking slightly under him. "Don't have all fucking day, Tails."

Tails couldn't tell if Sonic was scared or eager. He groaned loudly and brushed his thumb over that soft little hole. Sonic moaned at the touch, tensing under him. That shiver that went through him when he was touched, the trembling moan he let out…

"Feels nice, doesn't it?" Tails gave his cock a slow stroke, groaning when a drop of his pre fell onto Sonic's hole. He smeared it across the sensitive skin, listening to Sonic whine.

Sonic was panting into the sheets. Tails' mouth was watering at the sight of that tight little virgin ass, pinned helplessly under him, so fucking close to his cock.

Tails nudged the tip against Sonic and outright groaned. A shudder went through Sonic's body, he let out a little gasp at the pressure of the soft, slick head of Tails' cock. He choked when Tails pushed harder, starting to spread his hole. "Oh god, you're actually gonna put it in, oh god… "

Tails gave a little grunt and nudged his hips forward, trying to push past that tight ring of muscle. "Shit, you gotta relax, you're too damn tight…" His head fell forward and he let out a little hiss, slicking his cock back and forth over that tense little hole

Sonic shuddered once before relaxing. The head of Tail's cock slipped into him without warning and he made a breathless choking noise that had his boyfriend's cock twitching inside him.

"Ah, fuck, fuck, yes!"

Tails groaned and grabbed Sonic's hips, sinking into him. The fox could barely think straight. All he could look at was his cock disappearing into Sonic, watching himself disappear into his boyfriend, and wondering why he had never topped before.

"Oh god oh god oh god…" Sonic was shivering uncontrollably, panting into the sheets. Sonic _bucked_ his hips up against Tails, slicking his boyfriend's cock in deeper with a fucking enraptured groan. Tails gulped in air and almost came, bracing himself on his arms and panting. His thirteen year boyfriend was stretched out on his dick and it was so fucking good he didn't think he could last long.

"Tails… ah, fuck, please, move move move fucking _move-"_

Tails happily complied, leaning forward so he could pant in Sonic's ear, rocking his hips forward, powerful thrusts burying himself as deep as he could go within his boyfriend. "Doesn't hurt too much, right?"

"Stung a bit at first but, hnn, ah, feels so good now, fuck…" His hole clenched and Tails cursed. "F-feels so good now, so fucking good, oh god don't stop…" Sonic tensed his jaw and pushed his hips up against Tails.

"Nnn, wouldn't dream of it," Tails hissed, grabbing Sonic's hips, spreading his legs even wider and reaching a hand down to Sonic's dick, grasping it firmly and jerking to the rhythm of his thrusts.

Sonic nearly sobbed at the feeling, squeezing around Tails' cock like he was trying crush it, nothing but a stranglehold of smooth, silky heat around Tails' cock as he thrust in —

"Christ, Sonic!" Tails gasped, shaking as he finally came into his boyfriend. Sonic wasn't far behind, and soon both were panting and shaking from the aftershocks of their orgasms.

"Was… was that a good 'thank you'?" Sonic asked, voice breathy and light.

Tails groaned as he slowly pulled out. White come dripped out of Sonic's ass, and he watched, mesmerized. "Thank you for what?"

"Forgiving me…" Sonic mumbled, rolling over on his side. Tails chuckled, pushing a kiss against his cheek.

"Of course Sonic. I hope the bruises go away soon. Heartbreaking to see you in this condition, really."

"I'm sure it is…" Sonic coughed, wincing when Tails wrapped his arms around his torso.

"We'll clean up in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Sonic sighed, closing his eyes as Tails turned off the lights.

_-_- ΐ -_-_


	7. FEAR

**Here's the chapter early, just as I promised!**

**This one's also really short, sorry guys :( I hope you enjoy anyways…**

**If the beginning of the chapter feels kinda weird, it's because it's written in run-on sentences to make it feel more like a flashback. **

**There's a bit near the end that kinds feels Knuxonic-y, but it's really just platonic. If you want to read into it "that way", then you can, but like I said, really just being good buddies here.**

**CHAPTER WARNINGS: Language, implied homophobia, grinding, implied molestation, implied suicide**

_-_- ΐ -_-_

1997

FEAR

October 9th

Sonic supposed that the situation could've made a cute story for a children's book. It had a good moral, certainly. "Always listen to your elders". Bullshit like that would be perfect for a kid's book. It'd teach 'em to bow their heads and do whatever their parents said, whether that be cleaning their room or to stop fucking their best friend. Or at least stop fucking their best friend in a public building that was technically their home where people could walk in on them.

It was amazing how long they managed to keep a secret, really. Five years wasn't bad. At that point, it would've been socially acceptable to pop the question. Like, for real this time. When they weren't stupid kids. Well, they were technically still stupid kids. Just slightly older stupid kids. Stupid teenagers. Or tweens, in Tails' case.

Sonic had expected a lot more yelling. Accusations. Anger. Hell, even disappointment.

But no. It was shock.

Maybe everyone was kind of scared or wary because when Naka confronted him about it, everyone was just staring with this glassy-eyed look, and when he started throwing around the G-word, they kinda winced, like the stupid three-letter word somehow made it more real, set it in concrete.

And Naka had asked him if he was, in fact, gay, and Sonic said he guessed so but he still liked to look at the girl's underwear magazines, and then Naka said that he was bi then, and Sonic told him he didn't know what that was, and then Naka explained it to him and Sonic said he supposed that was what he was (1).

And then Naka asked if he had ever "fornicated" with Tails before and Sonic said yeah and Naka had asked how many times and Sonic said he'd lost count but they'd been dating for like five years now and Naka said that was kind of amazing and kind of sad.

And then Sonic asked if it was sad because now they had to break up and Naka said pretty much.

And now Tails was gonna have to live in a different building, which sucked because he'd have to take a bus to work, and Sonic offered to be the one that moved but Tails said he was tired of living in a damn office complex anyways and the small apartment they got him would be a welcome change. Plus Sonic would probably burn it down in the first week if left unsupervised. Sonic said that was funny and Tails said yeah but neither of them laughed.

And Amy was moving into Tails' room because it was bigger than the one she had and also Sonic guessed it was because SEGA wanted to prompt the non-gay part of him and Sonic was pretty sure she wouldn't do anything weird but he started locking his door at night just to be sure.

And Sonic wished that he was really busy, he wished that he had something to take his mind off of… everything. But he wasn't. All they were working on was _Sonic R, _and that wasn't even hard work, it was just a dumb racing game and Sonic just ran around and around the track and he tripped up and fell a lot and then they yelled at him and Sonic nodded and it kinda felt nice to be yelled at because it could get him angry and get his heart pumping again.

He had asked around if there was anything else to do, if there were any other projects, but everyone just said that they were working towards something big, something huge and spectacular, but they didn't want to tell him about it until next year, and Sonic wanted to punch something because goddammit this was important, he needed something to distract him because he wasn't gonna make it to next year, he was having a hard enough time making it to next week.

And sometimes during lunch break, Tails would pull on his hand and drag him behind some rock or tree or something and push their lips together and grab at his shoulders and rip at his clothes, push his leg up and grind against him, and the kisses would be so hot it was almost unbearable, so hot until the steam ran out and they were left with tired pecks on the throat and collarbone, awkward erections hidden behind tight pants. And then someone would call out that lunch break was over and they had to return to the crowd, and Amy and Knuckles and hell, even Eggman would stare at them and then look away because everyone knew that they hadn't been eating, and Sonic's stomach would growl but it would be worth it. Because that was what he lived for now. Not 1998, not some stupid racing game. A few minutes pressed up against a rock, grinding away like animals in heat. Maybe that's what they were, really. Just woodland creatures trying to get some.

November 14th

It was nearly midnight when the first doorknob rattle came.

Sonic sat up in his bed, eyes wide. It was Amy. He knew it, he knew she would come eventually. Lately she'd been more erratic and clingy than ever, and he had been frightened out of his mind every time she so much as approached him. He had tried to brush it off as paranoia, stress from the lack of… Tails. Hell, it might not even be Amy. Could be anyone.

The knocking was beginning to grow louder, almost angry. Sonic curled up under the covers, discovering with some shock that he was shivering. He knew that Amy could bust down the door if she wanted. And what would she do then? Apologize? Invite Sonic to a midnight cup of tea?

"Sonic, if you don't open this goddamn door right now –"

Tails?

He practically shot out of bed, fumbling with the doorknob as he tried to get it unlocked. What was Tails doing here? Sonic knew he had snuck out of his apartment, but why? For sex?

Tails looked very tired when Sonic eventually got the door open.

"Hey," Sonic said, relieved.

"Hey yourself."

Sonic quickly pulled the fox in, shutting and locking the door behind them. Grabbing his face, Sonic leaned in for a kiss before being stopped by Tail's finger.

"Listen… we need to talk."

Oh.

Sonic pulled away, trying to hide the fear in his eyes as he gave a nervous smile and sat down on the bed.

"Sonic, I… You probably haven't noticed, but I've been struggling with my performance, and I think you are too." Tails cleared his throat. Sonic realized he wasn't going to sit down.

"I think it's best if we… take a break. Just – just for a little while, okay? So we can concentrate better on our work. I- I don't want to break up. This isn't what it's about. I just… I just want to be the very best me I can. Do you – do you understand?"

Sonic's mouth was dry as a bone. He was shivering again. "Yeah, of… of course I understand." He let out a shaky laugh. "Whatever makes you happy, Tails."

"No, no, this isn't to make me happy – Sonic, I_ want_ to be with you, okay? I… I still love you. I just need some time to pull myself together. We could all use some time. We'll still see each other, and talk, but… just won't kiss or do anything like that. Okay? Just for a little while."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay."

Tails sighed, brow furrowing. "I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be. You just need a little time. It's fine. Really. It's totally fine."

That was a filthy lie and Sonic knew it.

December 3rd

It wasn't ready.

_Sonic R _wasn't ready, but it was going to be released tomorrow and there was nothing Sonic could do about it. Nothing but stand here alone on this goddamn bridge while the others were in an ice cream parlor or something. Sonic wasn't sure what they were doing now. He had excused himself to go to the bathroom, and now… he wasn't in the bathroom.

He was on a bridge. A bridge high above the water.

Sonic couldn't swim.

"There you are, you little punk."

Sonic glanced up. Knuckles was striding towards him, brow furrowed and eyes squinted.

"We've been looking for you everywhere! Why the hell didn't you tell us where you were going?"

Sonic shrugged, looking back at the water. His stomach was churning. San Francisco ocean must be so cold…

"Seriously, kid, we should go. So stop posing for the nonexistent cameras, okay?" Out of the corners of his eye, Sonic saw Knuckles' chest swell a bit. He was proud of that insult. Had he paused for a moment before talking to Sonic, armed with the jab and ready to use it?

"Knuckles, can you come over here for a second?"

"Why, d'ya wanna push me off?"

"No."

The echidna huffed angrily, striding over to where Sonic was standing. "Okay, fuzzball, what's up?"

Sonic turned, biting his lip. "Can I hug you?"

Knuckles stared at him. "What?"

"Please, I… I just need contact with someone, you know? Just… just a small hug. Less than three seconds. I promise."

"I… okay, fine, just don't grab my ass or anything you fucking queer."

Sonic's face was split by an awkward, wobbly smile, the one you do when you're trying not to cry as he launched himself into Knuckles' chest. It was a bit like trying to hug a brick wall, but he was warm in the cold San Francisco air and he was _alive. _After a pause, Sonic tried to pull away, but was stopped by Knuckles' arms wrapped around him like a vice.

That was understandably when Sonic started to cry.

_-_- ΐ -_-_

**(1) Sonic isn't actually bisexual in this AU, but doesn't realize it until the glorious internet teaches him otherwise. And yes, the internet did exist and was (more or less) widely used in 1997, but I doubt there was a whole lot of discussion on sexual orientation.**


	8. Announcement

**I've been super busy lately, and therefore chapter 7 will not be posted until this Sunday. This announcement will be taken down then. Thank you for your patience, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!**


End file.
